Ghana

Ghana illustrates the powerful impact of economic incentives on private sector-led growth and poverty reduction. But this growth, largely driven by cocoa and gold exports, owes a lot to favourable circumstances and has failed to transform the structure of the economy. Substantial challenges remain and addressing these will require urgent improvements in services, especially public services, in infrastructure (electricity, water and roads), education, health and agriculture, where it is striking that growth has not resulted in improved productivity to the extent expected. The active implementation of the principles in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness is helping to address challenges more effectively in Ghana. At the same time, Ghana now also needs to address these pressing strategic issues and improve policy implementation, to increase the participation of the poor in the growth process.

This report presents the main findings from the POVNET Workshop, held in Accra on 17 June 2007, to discuss key issues in Promoting Pro-Poor Growth in Ghana.